sreda, marec 30, 2005

Slovenia celebrates 1st anniversary in Nato

On 29 March 2004, Slovenia became a full-fledged member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato). Just one year later, the country still views its membership as a foreign policy success story, and is proud of its countrymen who now work for the organization, and of its nearly 300 soldiers who are involved in Nato operations around the world.

Speaking on the occasion of the anniversary, Foreign Minister Dimitri Rupel said, “Our membership is already being used in ways beneficial to the national interest, which is also intertwined with the interest in strengthening Euro-Atlantic and global security.”

However, according to Delo, Sociologist and political analyst Gorazd Kovačič remains unconvinced of the benefits of Nato membership to Slovenia. “The Slovene state apparatus does not have enough staff to be able to make use of the various tenders and offers for economic cooperation. The security situation has not changed, since Nato is a military organization and Slovenia needs security which is not based primarily on the military but more so on other social actors” [Delo / 29.03.05 /Prva obletnica vstopa Slovenije v Nato].